SITI NORAFIQAH HASSANOR

Norafiqah is currently assisting Puan Sharifah Shafika Alsagoff in documentation and advisory works in matters relating to corporate banking and finance in both conventional and Islamic, as well as conveyancing matters.

Amongst the matters that Norafiqah has been exposed to include:

The proposed issuance of Islamic medium term notes pursuant to a Sukuk Wakalah Programme of up to RM2.5 billion in nominal value by the subsidiary of a public listed company;

The proposed acquisition of the issued and paid up share capital shares of a private company;

The documentation process for rectification of titles for few housing projects;

The documentation process for various financing facilities granted by financial institutions and Islamic financial institutions to its borrower/customer;

Ridza is now the managing partner of the firm. Prior to opening the firm, Ridza was a partner and was head of his division with Zaid Ibrahim & Co.

Ridza began his career as an advocate and solicitor at the firm of Rashid & Lee in Malaysia. He later joined Arab Malaysian Corporation Berhad as the group legal adviser. Being the group legal adviser, he was instrumental in setting up the legal department of the Amcorp Group of Companies. Ridza left Arab Malaysian to become the General Legal Counsel of Technip Asia Pacific based in Kuala Lumpur and was previously attached at Technip headquarters in Paris, France.

Ridza is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (FCIS) and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (ACI Arb). He sat as a council member of the Chartered Secretaries Malaysia from 2005 to 2008 and was a member of the Corporate Governance Committee and the National Investigation Committee of the Malaysian Association of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (MAICSA). He is an accredited mediator with the Bar Council at Malaysia, a certified adjudicator and also a panel arbitrator with the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre of Arbitration in the area of Islamic Banking & Finance. Ridza is also the Treasurer of LaWorld.

He has also represented Malaysia in international debating competitions and was champion of the Great Debate between Oxford and Cambridge in April 1994. Ridza is also a trainer with Securities Industry Development Corporation (training arm of Securities Commission) and Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme (FSTEP)(training arm of Institut Bank-Bank Malaysia). He has written a chapter on Independent directors in collaboration with the Securities Commission and has co-authored a book titled the “Law & Practice of Islamic Banking & Finance, First, Second and Third Edition”, “Sukuk Islamic Capital Market Series” and “The Life and Law of Fintech” published by Sweet & Maxwell Asia. He is one of the authors representing the Malaysian Jurisdiction in two oil & gas journals namely Getting the Deal Through – Gas Regulation and The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Oil & Gas Regulation.

He currently sits as an independent director on the board of Theta Edge Berhad (formerly known as Lityan Holdings Berhad) and Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad. He is the senior independent director and also the Chairman of the Audit Committee for Theta Edge Berhad. At Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, he is also a member of the Audit & Examination Committee. He also sits as a member of the Remuneration Committee and Nomination Committee of Theta Edge Berhad.

Ridza was named as one of the world’s leading Islamic finance lawyers as voted by his peers in the industry.

Ridza had his primary education at St. Paul’s Institution, Seremban and went to Sekolah Alam Shah, Kuala Lumpur for his secondary education. He read law at the International Islamic University Malaysia and graduated in 1992 with a First Class Honours. He is also a graduate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (London). He was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1993.